Eid Mubarak

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2008/09/04/notice.htm

Notice

Eid Mubarak

Star Campus wishes all its valued readers and contributors a very happy and prosperous Eid-ul-Fitr, 2008.

Announcement

1. Star Campus will not be published on 5th October, 2008 due to Eid holidays.
2. The issue of the 12th October will emphasise on the celebration of Eid.

*For that, students and teachers are requested to send in their pictures (in JPEG format) celebrating Eid with friends and family.
*A maximum of 3 entries per person is allowed and the pictures’ resolution should be between 640*480 (or 480*640) to 1024*768 (or 768*1024).
*All pictures should be sent on or before the 6th of October, 2008 to the following address:
starcampus@gmail.com

* The email should have, in its subject headline: ‘Eid Photos’.

Mahdin Mahboob
Star Campus Desk

Tech Wise [28th September, 2008]

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2008/09/04/tech.htm

Fuji’s 3D Camera System

FUJI announced a 3d digital imaging system that uses modern image processors to take images with similar quality found in modern cameras. The dual lens system can also be used for future applications including instantly stiched together panoramas from two simultaneous shots, or using one CCD to shoot video while the other shoots stills. What’s interesting is that Fuji simultaneously developed a 3D imaging ecosystem including an 8.4 inch, 3D LCD display that needs no glasses and a 3D printer.

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Carbon Nanotube Supercapacitors May Replace Clunky Car Batteries

CARBON nanotubes are one of the surprising new carbon supermaterials, and it looks like their application in supercapacitors may have a role in replacing clunky old car battery tech. Scientists at the University of Texas at Dallas have invented a technique to make supercapacitor “paper” made from randomly tangled carbon nanotubes embedded in a polymer. Both chemical batteries and capacitors store electrical charge, in differing ways, but nanotech supercapacitors could store more energy in a smaller space, without the dangers associated with chemical systems. Better yet the new technique is “easily scalable for device fabrication on an industrial scale,” so it might end up in real products sooner rather than later.

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Controlling light with sound:
new liquid camera lens as simple as water and vibration

A new technique for creating liquid lenses with water and sound could enable a new generation of low cost, lightweight, energy efficient cameras. This series of time-lapse photos shows how the lens, made up of two droplets of water vibrating at a high speed, changes shape and, in turn, moves in and out of focus. The time between frames is four milliseconds.

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Samsung HZ1:
Skinny, Zoomy, Hi Deffy

THE Samsung HZ1 is just a 26mm thick point ‘n shoot, but it manages to pack in a 10x zoom, 24mm wide angle lens and 720P HD video recording that captures at 30 frames per second. Of course there’s all the other stuff you’d expect in a premium camera of this classoptical image stabilization, 10.2MP and semi-useful extras like face detectionbut we’re just happy to see a small camera avoiding metallic paint for a change. Unfortunately, no word on price or availability yet.

[StarTech] TechViews – In-flight Entertainment Systems – Improving like never before…

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=56495

Top: Airlines have started expanding in-flight entertainment systems from first-class cabins, like this one aboard Emirates, to include those passengers packed more tightly in the rear of the plane. Bottom: Virgin America’s Red system is based on Panasonic’s latest IFE technology and is available on flights to seven major destinations.

Today, it will be hard to find anyone whom you can convince that in 1965 all the world’s airlines voted to outlaw movies on airplanes as an unnecessary and costly frill! Presently, an economy passenger on Singapore Airlines’ new Airbus A380 has access to 100 movies, 180 television shows, and 700 audio CDs. With Boeing and Airbus backlogged with orders for more than 7000 new airplanes, more and more passengers will have an opportunity to be wowed by an in-flight entertainment system soon.

A few years ago, such a selection would be available only to business or first class-passengers, but the airlines have started moving formerly premium IFE (In-flight Entertainment Systems) services to the main cabin passengers, who are actually more likely to use them.

“In economy class, airlines want to provide a distraction and sense of space that allows you to focus and not be concerned that you might feel constricted in your seat,” says Neil James, the director of corporate sales and marketing for Panasonic Avionics Corp., of California, USA, a major provider of in-flight entertainment systems.

Singapore Airlines, who flies the longest distance flights (10, 371 statute miles) and the longest duration flights (over 18 and a half hours), considers IFE systems to be psychological necessities for their passengers.

“For many carriers, IFE systems are a nice add-on or a nice frill; they’re absolutely essential for us,” says James Boyd, a spokesperson for Singapore Airlines. Especially for longer flights, an IFE system can provide the sense of control for the passenger in an otherwise powerless situation. “Airlines tell you when you have to come to the airport, when you can board, when the aircraft is going to leave, how long it’s going to be aloft, when you can get out of your seats, and that creates an enormous amount of stress for passengers,” he adds.

Studies indicate that better-designed IFE systems provide passengers with a greater perception of control. This means that airlines have to create systems that appeal to everyone, from those who like to socialize with their fellow passengers to those who would rather be left alone with their IFE system for the entire trip. But developing an IFE system is not as simple as ringing up an IFE supplier and saying, “I’ll take 20 of your latest IFE systems sitting on the shelf over there, and could you please deliver them by next Tuesday?”

In reality, it is anything but that! The airlines, seating company and the IFE provider all have to work together to produce a perfectly working system, which is easier said than done.

Increased modularity requires modern IFE systems to rely more heavily on software than hardware. For example, when the Boeing 777 was developed, the avionics package required 2.6 million lines of code, and the IFE system had only 250 000 lines. Compare that with the Boeing 787, which has more than 6.5 million lines of code in the avionics package, and almost as many in its IFE system, according to Panasonic.

Software is generally easier to change than hardware, but it also has a second advantage: it’s weightless. IFE system manufacturers and seat suppliers have always looked for ways to reduce the weight, but there is more urgency with today’s increasing fuel prices.

In the near future, in-flight Internet connectivity may finally be arriving. In USA, Amewrican Airlines launched Wi-Fi service for flights on its Boeing 767-200 aircraft between New York and Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. Five other U.S. airlinesJet Blue, Alaska, Delta, Continental, and Southwesthave plans to roll out access in six months to a year. Air France, Lufthansa, and Qantas are looking to follow suit shortly.

Another thing to watch for is more passenger/IFE system personalisation. Passengers may find that when they get to their seats, the system greets them by name, notes their destination, and asks if they need a restaurant recommendation or reservation. It may also let them know that an acquaintance from LinkedIn or Facebook is also on the flight or in the destination city!

Information & Image Source: IEEE and other Websites

Spotlight: In search of the Pristine Particle

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2008/09/03/camspotlight_pristine.htm

The LHC Project

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator complex, intended to collide opposing beams of protons (one of several types of hadrons) with very high kinetic energy. Its main purpose is to explore the validity and limitations of the Standard Model, the current theoretical picture for particle physics. It is theorized that the collider will confirm the existence of the Higgs boson. This would supply a crucial missing link in the Standard Model and explain how other elementary particles acquire properties such as mass.

The LHC was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and lies underneath the Franco-Swiss border between the Jura Mountains and the Alps near Geneva, Switzerland. It is funded by and built in collaboration with over eight thousand physicists from over eighty-five countries as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories. The LHC is operational and is presently in the process of being prepared for collisions. The first beams were circulated through the collider on 10 September 2008, and the first high-energy collisions are expected to take place 6-8 weeks after that.

Although there have been questions concerning the safety of the Large Hadron Collider in the media and even through the courts, the consensus in the scientific community is that there is no conceivable threat from the LHC particle collisions.

Design

The LHC is the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. The collider is contained in a circular tunnel, with a circumference of 27 kilometres (17 mi), at a depth ranging from 50 to 175 metres underground.

The 3.8 m wide concrete-lined tunnel, constructed between 1983 and 1988, was formerly used to house the Large Electron-Positron Collider. It crosses the border between Switzerland and France at four points, with most of it in France. Surface buildings hold ancillary equipment such as compressors, ventilation equipment, control electronics and refrigeration plants.

The collider tunnel contains two adjacent parallel beam pipes that intersect at four points, each containing a proton beam, which travel in opposite directions around the ring. Some 1,232 dipole magnets keep the beams on their circular path, while an additional 392 quadrupole magnets are used to keep the beams focused, in order to maximize the chances of interaction between the particles in the four intersection points, where the two beams will cross. In total, over 1,600 superconducting magnets are installed, with most weighing over 27 tonnes. Approximately 96 tonnes of liquid helium is needed to keep the magnets at their operating temperature of 1.9 K, making the LHC the largest cryogenic facility in the world at liquid helium temperature.

Superconducting quadrupole electromagnets are used to direct the beams to four intersection points, where interactions between protons will take place.

Superconducting quadrupole electromagnets are used to direct the beams to four intersection points, where interactions between protons will take place.

Once or twice a day, as the protons are accelerated from 450 GeV to 7 TeV, the field of the superconducting dipole magnets will be increased from 0.54 to 8.3 tesla (T). The protons will each have an energy of 7 TeV, giving a total collision energy of 14 TeV (2.2 ìJ).

At this energy the protons have a Lorentz factor of about 7,500 and move at about 99.999999% of the speed of light! It will take less than 90 microsecond (ìs) for a proton to travel once around the main ring a speed of about 11,000 revolutions per second. Rather than continuous beams, the protons will be bunched together, into 2,808 bunches, so that interactions between the two beams will take place at discrete intervals never shorter than 25 nanoseconds (ns) apart. However it will be operated with fewer bunches when it is first commissioned, giving it a bunch crossing interval of 75 ns.

Prior to being injected into the main accelerator, the particles are prepared by a series of systems that successively increase their energy. The first system is the linear particle accelerator LINAC 2 generating 50 MeV protons, which feeds the Proton Synchrotron Booster (PSB). There the protons are accelerated to 1.4 GeV and injected into the Proton Synchrotron (PS), where they are accelerated to 26 GeV. Finally the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) is used to further increase their energy to 450 GeV before they are at last injected (over a period of 20 minutes) into the main ring. Here the proton bunches are accumulated, accelerated (over a period of 20 minutes) to their peak 7 TeV energy, and finally stored for 10 to 24 hours while collisions occur at the four intersection points.

Six detectors have been constructed at the LHC, located underground in large caverns excavated at the LHC’s intersection points. Two of them, the ATLAS experiment and the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS), are large, general purpose particle detectors. A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE) and LHCb have more specific roles and the last two TOTEM and LHCf are very much smaller and are for very specialized research. The BBC’s summary of the main detectors is:

* ATLAS one of two so-called general purpose detectors. Atlas will be used to look for signs of new physics, including the origins of mass and extra dimensions.

* CMS the other general purpose detector will, like ATLAS, hunt for the Higgs boson and look for clues to the nature of dark matter.

* ALICE will study a “liquid” form of matter called quark-gluon plasma that existed shortly after the Big Bang.

* LHCb equal amounts of matter and anti-matter were created in the Big Bang. LHCb will try to investigate what happened to the “missing” anti-matter. When in operation, about seven thousand scientists from eighty countries will have access to the LHC. It is theorized that the collider will produce the elusive Higgs boson, the last unobserved particle among those predicted by the Standard Model. The verification of the existence of the Higgs boson would shed light on the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking, through which the particles of the Standard Model are thought to acquire their mass. In addition to the Higgs boson, new particles predicted by possible extensions of the Standard Model might be produced at the LHC. More generally, physicists hope that the LHC will enhance their ability to answer the following questions:

* Is the Higgs mechanism for generating elementary particle masses in the Standard Model indeed realised in nature? If so, how many Higgs bosons are there, and what are their masses?

* Are electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force just different manifestations of a single unified force, as predicted by various Grand Unification Theories?

* Why is gravity so many orders of magnitude weaker than the other three fundamental forces? See also Hierarchy problem.

* Is Supersymmetry realised in nature, implying that the known Standard Model particles have supersymmetric partners?

* Will the more precise measurements of the masses and decays of the quarks continue to be mutually consistent within the Standard Model?

* Why are there apparent violations of the symmetry between matter and antimatter? See also CP-violation.

* What is the nature of dark matter and dark energy?

* Are there extra dimensions, as predicted by various models inspired by string theory, and can we detect them?

The findings?

Of the possible discoveries the LHC might make, only the discovery of the Higgs particle is relatively uncontroversial, but even this is not considered a certainty. Stephen Hawking said in a BBC interview that “I think it will be much more exciting if we don’t find the Higgs. That will show something is wrong, and we need to think again. I have a bet of one hundred dollars that we won’t find the Higgs.” In the same interview Hawking mentions the possibility of finding superpartners and adds that “whatever the LHC finds, or fails to find, the results will tell us a lot about the structure of the universe.”

The first beam was circulated through the collider on the morning of 10 September 2008. CERN successfully fired the protons around the tunnel in stages, three kilometres at a time. The particles were fired in a clockwise direction into the accelerator and successfully steered around it. The LHC successfully completed its first major test: after a series of trial runs, two white dots flashed on a computer screen showing the protons traveled the full length of the collider. It took less than one hour to guide the stream of particles around its inaugural circuit. CERN next successfully sent a beam of protons in a counterclockwise direction, taking slightly longer at one and a half hours due to a problem with the cryogenics.

Once the supercollider is up and running, CERN scientists estimate that if the Standard Model is correct, a Higgs boson may be produced every few hours. At this rate, it may take up to three years to collect enough statistics unambiguously to discover the Higgs boson. Similarly, it may take one year or more before sufficient results concerning supersymmetric particles have been gathered to draw meaningful conclusions.

The upcoming experiments at the Large Hadron Collider have sparked fears among the public that the LHC particle collisions might produce doomsday phenomena, including dangerous microscopic black holes and strange matter.Two CERN-commissioned safety reviews have examined these concerns and concluded that the experiments at the LHC present no danger and that there is no reason for concern, a conclusion expressly endorsed by the American Physical Society, the world’s second largest organization of physicists.

The Higg’s Boson

The Higgs boson is a hypothetical massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. It is the only Standard Model particle not yet observed. An experimental observation of it would help to explain how otherwise massless elementary particles cause matter to have mass. More specifically, the Higgs boson would explain the difference between the massless photon and the relatively massive W and Z bosons. Elementary particle masses, and the differences between electromagnetism (caused by the photon) and the weak force (caused by the W and Z bosons), are critical to many aspects of the structure of microscopic (and hence macroscopic) matter; thus, if it exists, the Higgs boson is an integral and pervasive component of the material world.

No experiment has yet directly detected the Higgs boson; the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, which came on line on 10 September 2008, is expected to provide experimental evidence that will confirm or reject the particle’s existence.

In electronic media and in many newspapers and magazines, the Higgs boson is frequently referred to as ‘the god particle’, although it has got nothing to do with religion or anything distantly related to it! This name was adopted after Leon Lederman’s book (The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, There is no question) which enjoyed wide popularity. In fact this is also a code name for the familiar expression ‘the goddamn particle’ which working physicists frequently used in desperation for this elusive particle.

Information and image sources: Wikipedia, IEEE Spectrum, New Scientist Magazine, Cosmos Magazine, AFP, BBC, CERN and other websites.

Tech Wise [21st September, 2008]

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2008/09/03/tech.htm

Casio Exilim EX-FH20

Casio has got another super-fast frame rate camera out in the markets: the EX-F20. It’s a smaller and lighter version than its predecessors, but it has 9.1-megapixels, can still shoot ultra-high-speed bursts at 40 fps and high speed movies at “up to 1,000 fps” and has a 20x optical zoom, anti-shake, night-scene mode and standard 720p video option.

It’s intended to appeal to a broader bunch of users, rather than just camera enthusiasts, so it’s a little simpler than the EX-1, with all the shooting modes on a single dial. It’ll be available in black in stores (USA) from October for $600 (approx. BDT 42,000).

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HTC Touch HD – Official Shots, Specs

Images of the gorgeous HTC Touch HD have popped up on HTC’s site, along with complete specs. Aside from the sweet WVGA 480×800 screen, GPS, Wi-Fi, TouchFLO UI and dual cameras are also confirmed for the WinMo Pro 6.1 beauty.

This entertainment focused mobile handset promises to transform how people experience multimedia on the move. Integrating a large 3.8 inch wide-screen VGA display (WVGA), a standard 3.5mm audio jack and a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, the HTC Touch HD is the perfect device for multimedia fans.

The HTC Touch HD combines high performance capabilities with a stylish, sleek design that has made HTC a global leader in mobile phone design and innovation. Its large 3.8 inch WVGA touchscreen offers users stunning clarity and vibrant colours, providing an unrivalled experience when watching movies, browsing the Internet or even scanning through photos taken with the 5 megapixel auto focus camera.

The stylish new device also features HTC’s beautiful TouchFLO™ 3D user interface to provide quick and intuitive access to the people, messages and content that are most important. A standard 3.5mm headphone jack has also been designed-in, allowing consumers to use high-performance headphones with the device for the best possible sound quality.

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Ikonoskop Camcorder Shoots 240MB of Video Every Second

The key to the crazy looking Ikonoskop A-cam dII camera may be the 80GB card that comes with it. How else would you expect to shoot 60 RAW frames of 1080p videototalling out at 240MBeach and every second?

However, it doesn’t have the specs to match the legendary 4K Red One, but it does cost a lot less, less than half at $10,000 (approx. BDT 700,000)!!! That awesome memory card is twice as fast as the next best card on the market, but there is a catch: That 80GB will be used up in 15 minutes of video.

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Bird’s Nest Architects Latest Unveiling:
Apartment Tower in NYC

Fresh off the billions of eyes that have been on the beautiful Beijing National Stadium, Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron have set their sights on New York City with this incredible 57-story residential tower. It consists of 145 unique apartments that are stacked into the sky. The building, which will be built in Tribeca at 56 Leonard Street, uses extreme cantilevers to achieve a look that H&M describe as “pixelated vertical layering.”

Herzog and de Meuron designed just about every aspect of the interiors as well, from the 12-foot glass doors that open out onto your private deck, the massive floor-to-ceiling fireplaceseven the colouring of the individual interior elements. If you want to live in an apartment designed by the same folks that brought us one of the coolest works of architecture of the 20th century (and you’ve got $3.5 millions for a small, low apartment or $33 million for a top apartment), this is your place.

[StarTech] TechNews – WiMAX in spotlight

http://thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=55439

ZTE Corporation, one of the largest telecommunications enterprise of China, organised a workshop titled ‘WiMAX Journey in Bangladesh’ at a local hotel in Dhaka recently. The workshop had different sessions including ‘ZTE WiMAX Overview’, ‘WiMAX Business Model and case Study’, ‘ZTE WiMAX End-to-End solution’, ‘ZTE WiMAX Network Planning and Optimization Solution’ and ‘ZTE Engineering Introduction’.

In the event the speakers talked about ZTE’s success stories in constructing WiMAX Networks in different countries of the world including USA, China, Singapore, Libya, Netherlands, Kazakhstan, etc. They also spoke about ZTE’s ability to provide end-to-end WiMAX solutions and the many different technological advances it has made since it started Research & Development on WiMAX in 1998.

Today, ZTE boasts over 600 international patents related to WiMAX ranging from standard technologies, product implementations, testing methods to network deployment.

The company has different solution packages according to targeted usage, whether it is a small, medium or large scale office buildings or shopping malls, railway/ subway stations to single unit houses and apartment complexes. A series of base station types, the Macro, Micro, PICO, and Femto series are deployed according to intended usage.

ZTE Corporation has rich experience in professional training and with advanced training equipment, standard management and excellent trainers, the training network has covered all over the world, providing trainings on systems, maintenance and management for nearly 130,000 customers in over 90 countries.

In the workshop, different management and technical officials from the ZTE China and Bangladesh offices, BTRC officials and other industry people were present.

Spotlight: A Students’ Ramadan – On The Streets

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2008/09/02/camspotlight.htm

The Holy Month of Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic Calendar, a month of religious observance and fasting. Over 90% of the population in Bangladesh are Muslims and hence the month Ramadan means changed lifestyles, changed eating habits and changed timings for most of the people of the country, including students!

Most of the university students fast and during this month, many are seen to have become more religious than they usually are during the other eleven months of the year. This would mean waking up early (read very early), and after the Sehri in the middle of the night, a little nap and then heading off to university and work. And with changed timetables at office and the educational institutions, everyone is bound to get more done in a shorter span of time, that too with an empty stomach! But before Iftaar, everyone is seen to rush back home, unless of course you have an Iftaar party to attend. During this month, while having Iftaar with other members of your family, the family values do get relived and rejuvenated. In other times of the year, we barely are able to reach home before sunset given the hectic life that most of us have to live today.

Amdadul Huq / DRIKNEWS

But before reaching home, all of us have to deal with the unbearable pain of waiting for hours in the crazy traffic jams of Dhaka and other metropolises of the country. In Dhaka, traffic jams seem to increase ten folds during Ramadan, especially before the Iftaar hours. Everyone seems to be in a mad rush to return home and there doesn’t seem to be enough roads and streets to fit everyone in! It doesn’t help one ounce, if you have to look for a public transport to reach home before the Iftaar. None of the three wheelers seem to be empty, and the ones which are, would only go to destinations of their own choice! One out of every hundred of these things would eventually agree to take you to a place of your choice (that is, your home), only if you pay them three to four times the regular fare! The buses are crammed to the brim and there is an apparent scarcity of rickshaws which are otherwise available in plenty.

During Ramadan, hundreds of small Iftaar shops spring up in all lanes and alleys of Dhaka. All of them however, seem to know the ’secret’ recipes of Shahee Haleem, Shahee Jilapi and Doibora. Though the festive look of all these Iftaar shops does look tantalizing, the quality and hygiene maintenance of many of these shops are not up to the mark.

Another interesting feature of the Dhaka streets during Ramadan is its hyped up people. From rickshaw pullers to three wheeler drivers to car drivers and chauffeurs, almost everyone seem to be on the lookout for an opportunity to fight. Not just verbal fight, many people are seen to go physical, which then proves to be a great source of entertainment for the passers by! I find this phenomenon extremely ironic since the act of fasting is meant to teach us patience, sacrifice and humility.

On an ending note, I would like to remind that for those of us who are fasting it is important that we are able to carry the spirit across the other eleven months of the year, not just Ramadan alone. And to stay fit, drinking a lot of water during the non-fasting hours is really important since during the daytime, our bodies continue to lose it without gaining any. Before this article becomes an advising session, I’ll end it here by wishing all of you an advanced Eid Mubarak!

Tech Wise [14th September, 2008]

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2008/09/02/tech.htm

Gunnar Optiks
Eye Strain-Reducing
Computer Glasses

A pair of yellow-tinted glasses you wear at the computer that claim to reduce “Digital Eye Fatigue” and “Computer Vision Syndrome.” In other words, they get rid of eye strain and headaches related to eye strain. It also claims to give you “sharper, clearer vision,” as well as improve your performance because “the eyes are relaxed.” How? By “improving eye focus, reducing glare and blocking artificial light.”

The price of this cool gadget is variable, but a random sampling of different frame types cost anywhere between $99 (approx. BDT 6,900) at the low end and nearly $200 (approx. BDT 14,000) at the high end.

Reports are that, it actually works. The curvature and wrapping of the lenses around your eyes cause some slight distortion when you’re turning your head or using your peripheral vision which takes a short while to get used to.

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Ballpoint Pen Doubles as an Emergency Cellphone Charger

Brando Workshop is known for quirky and offbeat gadgets, but they deliver their fair share of useful devices as well. This ballpoint pen can also be used as an emergency cellphone charger. According to the description, it averages a 100 minute charge time, 20 hour standby time and 2 hours of talk time on one AA battery. It also features five connectors (Sony Ericsson Fast Port, Nokia 2.5mm, 3.5mm, mini USB and Samsung). It makes sense because many of us already carry around a pen, and it’s not a bad deal at $18(approx. BDT 1260).

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Electronic Newspapers Get Closer

If Plastic Logic’s upcoming electronic paper tech is any good it might actually be the way of the future for newspapers. Plastic Logic’s device is the size of a sheet of copier paper and is actually aimed at a business environment. But “newspapers is what everyone asks for” says Plastic Logic’s CEO: and this makes great sense since the size of the screen would give it a more “authentic” newspapery feel. No info on price yet.

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Nikon D90 Preview

Almost exactly two years after the D80 was announced comes its replacement, the rather predictably named D90.

First and foremost there’s a new CMOS sensor, which Nikon claim produces D300 quality output at up to ISO 6400 and – one of several features to ‘trickle down’ from higher models – the same highly acclaimed 3.0-inch VGA screen as the D3/D300. Naturally it has Live View with contrast-detect AF and it would have been surprising had it not sported some form of dust removal system. More surprising is the inclusion of the world’s first DSLR movie mode (720p HDTV quality, no less) and HDMI output, though as we’ll see later it does come with some limitations. A lot of the core photographic spec is the same as or very similar to the D80, though there is a new shutter and an implementation of the 3D tracking AF seen on the D3/D300.

And it’s not just the high end models that have lent features and technology to the D90; the user interface has been given the same user-friendly treatment as the D60, as have the retouching options.

Nikon D90 Key Features
* 12.9 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor (effective pixels: 12.3 million)
* 3.0-inch 920,000 pixel (VGA x 3 colors) TFT-LCD (same as D3 and D300)
* Live View with contrast-detect AF, face detection
* Image sensor cleaning (sensor shake)
* Illuminated focus points
* Movie capture at up to 1280 x 720 (720p) 24 fps with mono sound
* IS0 200-3200 range (100-6400 expanded)
* 4.5 frames per second continuous shooting (buffer: 7 RAW, 25 JPEG fine, 100 JPEG Normal)
* Expeed image processing engine
* 3D tracking AF (11 point)
* Short startup time, viewfinder blackout and shutter lag
* Slightly improved viewfinder (96% frame coverage)
* Extensive in-camera retouching including raw development and straightening
* Improved user interface
* New optional compact GPS unit (fits on hot shoe)
* Same battery and vertical grip as D80
* Vignetting control in-camera
* 72 thumbnail and calendar view in playback
Source: Gizmodo and DPreview Websites

[StarTech] TechFocus – WiMAX in sight – 3 companies to get BTRC licences

http://thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=54366

1. WiMAX is likely to boost rural internet usage in Bangladesh.
2. Farmers can get access to crop information through rural internet connectivity.

WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a wireless-broadband-access Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) technology, based on the IEEE 802.16 standard, that provides for the wireless transmission of data in a variety of ways, ranging from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular-type access. By virtue of its longer transmission distance, faster broadband access, excellent last-mile connectivity and multimedia communication services, WiMAX has already made its mark on markets worldwide.

In view of this, the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has decided to issue three licences for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) services in 2.3 GHz (twolicences) and 2.5 GHz (one licence) spectrum bands as per the regulatory and licensing guidelines for BWA services licence. It is held that an additional BWA licence may be issued to the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) with the same terms and conditions including the licence acquisition fee (to be fixed by way of auction).

Local firms are eligible to apply for the licence and they are also allowed to form partnerships with foreign companies with a binding condition of a maximum of 60% of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment). The auction is due to be held on September 24. However, the six licensed mobile phone operators (GSM and CDMA) have been barred from applying for this licence. The licence will be awarded by auction subject to fulfilment of all the conditions mentioned by the BTRC. The auction will be for licence acquisition fee and the bidding will start at Tk 25 crore. The highest 10 bidders will be considered for the licences and the topmost bidder will have the liberty to choose its preferred band from the offered spectrum.

The BTRC has stated that the duration of the licences will initially be for a term of 15 (fifteen) years. Upon expiry of the initial term, the licence may be renewed for subsequent terms, each of five years in duration, subject to the approval from the commission and other such conditions, including the payment of fees specified by the commission. The annual licence fee will be Tk 3 crore and the licensee will have to submit a bank guarantee of Tk 15 crore in favour of the BTRC within 15 days from the date of issue of the licence.

However, the BTRC has also stated that the operators, within one year of the issuance of licence, will have to install minimum five full-fledged Base Transceiver Station (BTS) radio sites in areas covering each divisional headquarters (including the whole district), three in each category-A district, two in each category-B district and one in each category-C district. So, in the first year the operators will have to cover 20% of the upazilas and 10% of villages in Bangladesh, and in the following 4 years the operators will have to cover the remaining parts of the country.

In Bangladesh, some of the major companies that are applying for such a licence include ZTE Corp, Agni Systems, Brac & Square consortium, Rankstel and Dhakaphone among others. Sources in the BTRC have said that ten to twelve companies have applied for the WiMAX licence and among these the top three bidders will be awarded licences after the open auction on September 24.

It is also held that similar licences would be handed by the BTRC to organisations for the establishment, operation and maintenance of 3G technology in the near future.

A huge debate exists between the WiMAX and 3G authorities on the issue of which technology’s performance is better. Although, both these technologies can work in tandem with each other; this table, collected from ZTE Corp, shows a comparative analysis between WiMAX and the two other 3G technologies (WCDMA and CDMA2000).

The name WiMAX was created by the WiMAX Forum (http://www.wimaxforum.org), which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformity with and interoperability of the standard. As a worldwide consortium, the forum is focused on global adoption of WiMAX and chartered to establish certification processes that achieve interoperability, publish technical specifications based on recognised standards, promote the technology and pursue a favourable regulatory environment.

The forum has more than 522 members comprising the majority of operators, component and equipment companies in the communications ecosystem, among which, 15 are board members. The board of the WiMAX Forum is comprised of industry leaders who are committed to providing guidance and direction to the forum to ensure that the WiMAX Forum organisational staff executes on its vision and charter.

The current board members of the WiMAX forum are ZTE Corporation (China), Samsung (South Korea), Aperto Networks (USA), Airspan Networks (UK), Alcatel-Lucent (France), Alvarion (Israel), Fujitsu (Japan), Intel Corporation (USA), KDDI (Japan), British Telecom (UK), KT Corp (South Korea), Sprint Nextel (USA), Motorola (USA), AT&T (USA) and Nokia (Finland).

In South Asia, Pakistan is considered to have the biggest potential market for WiMAX. Currently, Pakistan has the largest fully functional WiMAX network in the world. Wateen Telecom installed the network (with an initial rollout in seventeen cities) throughout Pakistan using Motorola hardware. Many operators in different countries are now interested in deploying this advanced technology and some of the recent contracts include winning WiMAX contracts of Alvarion in Kenya and Malta, Alcatel-Lucent in Georgia, ZTE in Colombia and Libya, Airspan in Saudi Arabia and Ecuador, Cisco and NEC in Thailand and Nortel in Russia.

The WiMAX technology is expected to improve and enhance the current internet infrastructure in Bangladesh. All the government and non-government institutions, universities, medical colleges, technological research centres, ministries, educational boards and many other organisations are expected to benefit from WiMAX as it will provide data and telecommunications services, and also a wireless alternative to cable and DSL for “last mile” broadband access.

Once the WiMAX network is completely set up in the country, it is expected to provide a very high-speed broadband internet service to the people. It is likely to open up the many possibilities and services like IPTV, online gaming, downloading, video streaming, VoIP and other such facilities within the reach of the common people. It is also expected to boost the ICT sector of Bangladesh since high-speed internet access all over the country will open the door to more call centres and software outsourcing companies, which are primarily based in the capital city of Dhaka.

Spotlight: How Effective are Career Fairs?

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2008/09/01/camspotlight.htm

These days, career or job fairs seem to be the most happening thing for employers and job seekers alike since it provides the much needed bridge between the two. But many are sceptical about the effectiveness of such fairs since there are so many of them and the unemployment rates still continue to be high. We at Star Campus, have previously published news about different career fairs in our magazine. This week, we will try to find out its effectiveness and would also give you some tips to make the most out of Career Fairs.